At the beginning of every new year people make resolutions that they hope to make positive gain for their life. I used to participate in this ritual but I never followed through just like all the rest of the fools. Often times we take part of traditions because every one else does, and they never work because our heart is not in it. It’s like the old adage; “If everyone jumped into the lake, would you follow?” As born-again Christians we have the power to make life changing resolutions any time we want to.
Ephesians 4:24 Put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. The new man has the power to make changes in his life any time he wants to, he does not need a special season. Jesus said the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak, but that is not a good enough reason to avoid change. We feed our flesh and we feed our spirit. Which ever one is fed the most will be the strongest. Our flesh is fed natural knowledge, this is everything man knows or he thinks he knows. We can feed our spirit the Word of God but not religion, because religion is junk food to the spirit. If we want to make an alteration in our life, we need to feed our spirit and make it stronger than our flesh. Ephesians 2:8 For by grace we are saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. When our faith and God‘s grace come together it changes our very nature supernaturally. We are children of wrath and in the blink of an eye we become children of God. We know God gives grace to the humble and we have faith so we can implement change whenever we choose. Any change at all is between you and your Lord, we ought not change to please men! If a spiritual leader demands you change in order to conform to his or her doctrine, you are listening to the wrong spirit. If you choose to lose some weight, your faith mingled with God‘s grace will empower you to reach your goal. I know for a fact this works because I am doing it to the glory of God and to the benefit of my britches. 2 Corinthians 5:17 If any man is in Christ, by faith Jesus becomes his Savior, he is a new creature and old things have passed away. Behold new things will come because the Spirit brings a new life. Being born-again and becoming a new creature is the best thing anyone can do, but God isn’t done with us, He has more to give us. Many years can come and go from the day we’re saved until the day we relocate to Heaven. What do we do while we await our time to leave our body? We glorify God with our dedication to Him and we do what He asks us so we can build up our rewards. Everything we do for His sake requires faith and grace. Serving the Lord is the most rewarding thing we can do with our life and none of it is in vain. God is the Lord of the second chance, if you get off track repentance will immediately put you back where God wants you. No Christian should ever fear failure because Jesus even died for that too. He knows we are flesh and spirit and He knows the devil preys on weak human flesh so He made provision for our weakness. Paul said: “When I am weak then I am strong”, he said that after he accepted the grace the Lord offered him.
0 Comments
Every man and woman will contend with different voices in their minds all the days of their lives. Most people are familiar with their own thoughts based on the activities of their lives. But there is a second voice they hear but do not know the source of and that is the devil. The devil sounds just like our own thoughts but they are always negative and contrary to sound morals. When the devil offers thoughts to a man they are called “temptations”, when acted on they will lead to sin. The third voice comes from the Holy Spirit and He speaks into the heart of a man. He will constantly try to woo men into the will and presence of God.
1 Corinthians 2:14 The natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: they are foolishness to him: he cannot know them because they are spiritually discerned. The natural men are people who live solely by the dictates of their flesh. They make all their decisions based on what they see, hear, touch, taste or smell. They live by their unreliable physical senses. These folks are prone to good luck or bad luck, some rely on horoscopes and psychics. The Word of God is the ultimate truth, but to most folks it‘s just plain old nonsense. The folks are attracted to the supernatural for guidance but they are susceptible to religion because religion plays to the flesh. Religion avoids spiritual matters because the things of God require faith and if a man chooses to live by faith he will have no need for religion. Proverbs 23:7 For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. The present day ministry of the devil is to get all men to think like he thinks and the devil hates God. The devil is dumb, but he is not stupid, if he can sow hatred into your heart he can separate you from God. We cannot hate men and love God, because all men are created in the similitude of God. I have had to deal with the thoughts of the devil all my life, but now I know when he is trying to persuade me to act like him. When I was a boy growing up I was always in trouble because I acted out what I was thinking. I had no idea the devil was my father and he was leading me into all kinds of trouble. But he helped me out of most of the predicaments by giving me some good lies to bail me out. I thought I was my own person, I didn‘t know the devil had such a stronghold on my life and one day it all changed when I accepted Jesus as my Savior and Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:17 If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new. When I was born-again I became aware of the voices in my head, I could distinguish between the devil’s thoughts and God’s voice. Now I could choose who I would listen to and who I would obey. I noticed something peculiar, the devil spoke to my mind and the Holy Ghost spoke to my heart (spirit). All the voices sound alike but each had a distinctive manner of communication. When the devil spoke it was always all about me and when the Lord spoke it was always about Him and other people. One day some people did me wrong and I wondered how to handle the situation. The first voice told me to tell stories on all of the guilty, the second voice told me to forgive them and pray for them. I obeyed the latter voice, I obeyed God and He gave me the grace I needed to overcome. Try the spirits whether they be of God or not. God has empowered you to discern the truth. Most Christians receive ministry from the pastor, a teacher and occasionally an evangelist. Apostles and prophets are not readily acknowledged and very few know anything about the ministry of helps. The people who have heard of the help ministry just pass it off as a church tradition like an usher. The ministry of helps was God’s idea so you know it has a place in the church that needs to be honored.
1 Corinthians 12:28 God set ministries in the church, apostles, prophets, teachers, evangelists, pastors, helps, governments and gifts of the Spirit. All of these ministry gifts are important because God put them in the church. When all these gifts of men function as God ordains, they all receive the same reward. The person who is a minster of helps will be rewarded with the apostle, prophet, etc. Those who are anointed to minister the word of God cannot be successful without the helps ministers. Sheep need to be in the right place in order to be ministered to, the helps minister is anointed to “help” the sheep be in place to receive the power of God. In the Old Testament Moses had led all the Jews out of Egypt and they all had problems, too many for Moses to handle, so God spoke to him. Numbers 11:17 I will take of the Spirit which is upon you and I will put it on selected men, and they shall help bear the burden of the people with you, that you bear it not yourself alone. Moses chose seventy men from among the elders and they helped him to deal with all the people of God. Take notice here, the anointing on the leader is transferred to the helpers. This is a spiritual transfer and it is part of God’s plan for the church. A person in the ministry of helps has a portion of the anointing of the one they are helping. A lot of the ministers today who God has anointed and given them a vision came from the ministry of helps. Acts 6:3-4 Let us find seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and the Word, and pray over them to help us, in order for us to continue in prayer and the ministry of the Word. The twelve apostles had some serious business to tend to, so they needed some special men to help them, so they could be about the Father’s business. The people that became Christians had needs that needed tending, and the men assigned to help them had the anointing of the apostles to minister to them. Some people are called to help the people of a church but if they are not called to the helps ministry they can cause even more problems. A person must prove themselves to be full of the Holy Ghost and the Word, and that they love people enough to help them. Stephen was one of the seven called to help the apostles and he became an anointed evangelist who performed many miracles. Most of God’s ministries came out from the ministry of helps and they are anointed to carry the Word of God. A person could be a doctor, a lawyer, or a millionaire and be called to the ministry of helps, which by the way is a higher calling than their profession. A man asked Billy Graham if he would run for president and he replied, why would I want to accept a lower calling than what the Lord called me to? If you are called to a certain position and you’re good at that position and you like it, then God’s grace is on you. We do not sign up for a place in the body, God puts us where He chooses. When a person is born into this world they are born spiritually dead. They have no connection to God, they inherited this condition from the father of all men, Adam. All natural born people are susceptible to the wiles of the devil. Natural man accepts his place in the demonic world because he does not know any other way. The natural man does not receive anything from the Spirit of God, he is led to believe it’s all foolishness to him. He is not aware of it but he will live all his natural life and his eternal life with his father the devil.
But God is not willing that any man perish and spend eternity with His enemy the devil. In response to all sinners God ordains intercessors who pray in place of the lost. When the righteous pray, the Holy Spirit begins to woo all sinners with the love of God. The Holy Spirit tugs at their heart in an effort to lead them to Jesus and salvation. All men are in a spiritual battle and most of them are not aware of it. The devil wants them and God wants them, they both have a right to them! Sin gives man a divine connection to the devil and the blood of Christ gives man a divine connection to God. Deuteronomy 30:19 I am now giving you the choice between life and death, between God‘s blessing or God‘s curse, and I call Heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Choose life. Every man, woman, and child has been given a choice. They can stay with the devil or have the living God as their Father. If man does not choose, he will remain a child of wrath, a child of the devil. God sent His Son as a sin offering for all of creation, whether they accept Him or not, He died for all mankind. Every man that chooses will undergo a miracle, they will be born-again and become a new creature. The new creature in Christ has their eyes opened and they can see where they came from and where they are going. This will provoke the new creature to offer thanksgiving and praise to the one who truly loves them. 2 Corinthians 5:17 If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold , all things are become new. This new creature is the result of a miracle at t he new birth, in the twinkling of an eye a child of the devil becomes a child of God. This new creature must renew his mind in order to know who he is and to know his Heavenly Father in an intimate way. It is an indescribable joy to discover the attributes of becoming a new creature in Christ Jesus. All your fears begin to fade away and you feel something in your spirit you have never felt before. Anger, rage, and hopelessness depart from you and you become a more optimistic person, you have a contentment you cannot explain. John 14:16-17 The Father will send you another comforter, the Spirit of truth; you will know Him because He will dwell in you forever. The Father sends the Holy Ghost to take the place of Jesus, and that’s all He will talk about is Jesus and what the Father gives Him to speak of. How blessed is this new creature that God himself comes and lives within him, and He reveals Himself to His new child. I understand it is quite a challenge to be a happy, positive person in this world controlled by the rulers of darkness. But this is not a valid excuse because Jesus has overcome the world. Whatever you focus on will impact your attitude. Are you looking at the works of darkness or the works of Christ? We will become whatsoever we lend ourselves to, we have a choice. We are not married to the projection and influence of this fallen world.
John 16:22 When you see Me (Jesus) your heart will rejoice, and your joy no man can take from you. Psalm 16:11 In your presence is fullness of joy. Joy is a supernatural impartation that can only come from God and no man can take it from us. Joy is a more powerful component than sorrow, it always searches for the best of everything. The disciples were sullen and abandoned when Jesus died, but when He appeared to then they had joy once again. He told then He would suffer many things and rise again but they did not believe Him. If they would have believed Him, then even His death could not rob their joy from them! Joy is the result of believing what you cannot see and those who cannot see cannot take your joy from you. Psalm 35:23 Stir up thyself, and awake to My judgement, even unto My cause. Many years ago the Lord told me how to stir up myself, He said just put everything in perspective. The world tells us that we must conform to their brand of thinkin, we must believe we are changing the climate and we will all burn up. But the Word tells us that Jesus is coming back for a glorious church, and not because we are in danger of fire. He is coming back when the Father sends Him, not to save us from the planet but to save us from our sins. When our sins were forgiven and washed away, that is the basis for our joy. The joy of the Lord is bound up in His Word, when we receive the Word we receive His joy. Believers who have no joy have not accepted the Word entirely. Let’s put things in perspective so you can stir up the joy that can come from God alone. Your sins have been expunged and forgotten. Jesus, His Father and the Holy Spirit have come to make their abode with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. He is with you every day of the world until He calls you up to Heaven to live for all eternity. No matter what the principalities and powers throw at you, they cannot change your position in Christ Jesus. Mathew 5:18 God‘s Word is more real and lasting than the stars in the sky and the ground at your feet. Long after the stars burn out and earth wears out, God‘s Word will be alive and working. God’s Word is everlasting, so our joy is everlasting. Don’t let the devil convince you that you must be forsaken along with the world’s membership. The reason God ordained the new testament church of Jesus Christ is so we would have a place to go to get our joy refreshed. If we are subjected to the ways of the world for long periods of time, it puts a demand on our joy and it tries to weaken it. When Jesus was born, the angel told the shepherds that He had good tiding of great joy. Jesus brought great joy and He sent the Comforter to take His place, now the Holy Ghost is the Spirit of great joy. |
TEXT FOJCHURCH
TO 84576 OFFERING DECLARATION
My heart is God’s garden, He plants the seed of His Word. Now the devil comes immediately, he is after my precious seed. So I must guard my heart, out of it flow the issues of life. Prosperity is always spirit, soul and body, so I will have a goodly harvest. |
720 Faw Rd
Helena, Mt 59602 |